antiMusic.com: Stone Temple Pilots With Chester Bennington

Stone Temple Pilots With Chester Bennington - High Rise

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Even if new Stone Temple Pilots vocalist, Chester Bennington, couldn't sing a lick, the band's fortunes would still be better with him than without. After all, former vocalist Scott Weiland spent about as much time in rehab and on the tabloid pages, as on tour, so just having a guy without a substance abuse ball and chain is a big plus.

The good news, however, is Bennington can sing � and sing well � which he's already proven as a member of Linkin Park. One has to worry, though, how long his voice can hold out when being pushed by not one, but tow mega bands.

Musically, this initial EP doesn't really sound like Weiland-led Stone Temple Pilots or Linkin Park. Weiland may have a jones for bad chemicals, but he also has a vocal swagger Bennington cannot match. Furthermore, Linkin Park is blacker � for lack of a better term � simply because that act appreciates rap and hip hop more than STP ever will.

Sonically, this is quite the gentle new configuration introduction. While "Out Of Time" is a wonderful, rumbling groove, sort of in the Stone Temple Pilots tradition, and "Black Heart" finds Bennington getting just a little snarky, the remaining three tracks ("Same On The Inside," "Cry Cry" and "Tomorrow") are all relatively soft in comparison. The best of these latter three is "Same On The Inside," which may well be a plea for gay marriage, although it's not entirely explicit.

The proof of Stone Temple Pilots' new-and-improved staying power, of course, be in the full-length pudding, which may well be the worst analogy ever put to Word document. But as dumb as it reads, it's the truth. Based upon this short, 5-song introduction, however, I'm willing to see what Stone Temple Pilots plots next.